Walking down the stairs, and then around the curve of the other walkway eventually takes you past a hook in the path to the right. By your estimate, you actually pass over what you saw of the other passage (you think; it's hard to be certain), and then start heading down a steep ramp.
You must have gone down nearly two hundred meters before it levels out, and settles into an oddly twisted corkscrew shape. The passageway at this point is reinforced earth and raw stone -- no signs of skilled building anywhere except for the floor, which is (oddly) cobbled.
The lady looks troubled, but the light from her pendant shines on brightly.
"Is there something wrong, m'Lady?" Bjorn asks, quietly, as he moves as silently and cautiously as he can down the corridor.
She looks at you sidelong, then looks back to glance at Parthipan and Paul before saying, "No, nothing."
"Ah, that's good," Bjorn says serenely, looking back ahead. "It's important that there be nothing nagging at our minds before we trust our lives to each other and to Hamar through darkest danger." Keeping any trace of sarcasm, irony, or humour out of his voice is a skill developed over years of practice.
"...you must still be reeling from the deaths of your friends," she says after a moment. "I ... I'm worried, of course. I don't want to die. But I wouldn't be happy were Liandral and Sir Bloom to fall, either.
"And after--" she cuts off, steals a glance at Paul and Parthipan, and shrugs wordlessly. "Hamar will see us through as he sees fit," she concludes, somewhat unhappily.
"Hamar has already provided for us," Bjorn says, softly. "Now it is up to us to live up to His gifts." He grins, self-mockingly, but it's lost into the shadows as he stares down the corridor. "Or so I think. I also think, m'Lady, that I haven't died yet, and I didn't plan to get around to that anytime soon. We'll see the other side, have no fears."
As unobservant as he can be at times, Ginrai did notice that the lady cut off after glancing at him along with the comment she made afterwards. "Is something troubling you, m'Lady?"
Paul notices it too, but doesn't respond; he figures that with all the strange crap he's been saying, the Lady has every right to be giving him strange looks.
His hands find their own way down to his lute and begin to pull the strings of their own accord. The tune sounds like the first few notes of "Smoke on the Water", at least how it would sound if played on a lute instead of a six-string guitar.
She shakes her head. "It's not important," she says.
Huitzil's music echoes down the corridor. Sounds okay, for being on a lute instead of a proper guitar.
"Stop that," Bjorn says, evenly. "We would rather surprise whatever's waiting for us, rather than the other way around." Waiting long enough to confirm that Paul quits his strumming, he then follows the corkscrew path.
Paul nods and swallows dryly. He places the lute back into its container, then draws his meager knife, ready as he can be for Things that may strike at them.
Anything you run into will likely see the light from the pendant before they heard anything anyway, but you proceed in a grim silence.
You're not sure how long you're walking when your corridor straightens out, and enters the ege of a vast, vaulted, open area. The floor here is packed dirt, the cobbles quickly becoming sparce, and then absent entirely.
The walls appear to be carved from raw stone, but there are some form of butresses holding the ceiling up.
Bjorn studies the darkness, and then turns his head back to the rest of the party. "We should follow the wall," he says in a low voice. "Depending on how big this room is, we might easily lose track of our direction."
Saying that, he starts to follow the wall to the left of the door.
The lady quickly files behind you, anxiously looking at the darkness that covers the majority of this vast room.
Something's moving out there.... You can't see it, but you can hear it. Sounds like something scrabbling over rock, and with the acoustics, you can't be certain which direction it's actually coming from.
Paul splays out his fingers and touches them to the rock of the wall, feeling if it is shaking, trembling, or vibrating at all.
"M'Lady," Bjorn mutters, trying to keep his voice from carrying, "can you make your light stronger?"
Paul: The wall immediately near you is, in fact, vibrating a bit with that noise. Also, some tiny flakes and chips of rock are sliding down the wall with it.
Bjorn: At your request, she nods, and puts her hands together. The resultant light floods the room -- which is the size of a football field, just about -- and reveals ... nothing.
The floor is clear, empty of anything moving. But you still hear that noise.
Bjorn quickly studies the room, noting the locations of exits, and whether there are any pillars -- and then, working on a sudden horrible suspicion, looks up.
Bjorn looks up, after seeing that the room has no pillars, and only two exits. Directly above him, clinging to the wall, is a massive pale lizard-like creature. Except for the fact that its skin color does not change, it would look something like a cameleon. A meter long cameleon. With pretty sharp teeth.
As Bjorn is looking up, he gets to use his full DCV against the creature's attack when it suddenly drops on him. If it weren't for his finely honed reflexes, the creature would have bit him, and judging by the stench as Bjorn jumps aside and the creature thumps to the ground where he was standing, that mouth isn't too clean, either.
<Brian> We're already in combat time. Phase 0, no one has held actions.
<Brian> Bjorn is standing adjacent to the wall, there's a huge white lizard between him and the lady. Behind the lady, touching the wall, is Huitzil, and next to him is Ginrai.
<Brian> Phase 4, speed 3s.
<Brian> That's you, Huitzil.
<Huitzil> I presume that I follow Bjorn's gaze upward and gasp in shock. Then in a panic I take a few steps back and bring up the knife near my face in a ready-to-slash position, looking around and upward to see if any more are around.
<Brian> None come to light immediately.
<Brian> Next speed 3, the lizard.
<Brian> roll 3d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Brian ... : 3d6 --> [ 3d6=5 ]{5}
<Brian> It attacks Bjorn, and hits!
<Brian> roll 2d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Brian ... : 2d6 --> [ 2d6=3 ]{3}
<Brian> roll 3d6 for hit location
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Brian ... : 3d6 for hit location --> [ 3d6=10 ]{10}
<Brian> Bjorn: Center of mass. You think that lizard chipped a tooth on your chestplate. It also knocked you back a half-step. That's, uh, about it.
<Bjorn> <Note to self: wear armour more often.>
<Brian> Phase 6, speed 3s. Dex order: Bjorn, the lady, and then Ginrai.
Bjorn regains his footing, sidesteps, and charges in at the lizard.
<Brian> What type of attack? And where are you putting your points from your MA package?
<Bjorn> Defensive Strike, +2OCV, +2DCV.
<Brian> Okay. Go ahead and make your roll to hit.
<Bjorn> roll 3d6 to hit
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Bjorn ... : 3d6 to hit --> [ 3d6=10 ]{10}
<Brian> You hit, by exact count.
<Brian> Please roll your 1d6 damage.
<Bjorn> roll 1d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Bjorn ... : 1d6 --> [ 1d6=6 ]{6}
<Brian> roll 3d6 for hit location
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Brian ... : 3d6 for hit location --> [ 3d6=13 ]{13}
<Brian> Maximum damage, target area: vitals. Your blade skims across the armor plate of the lizard's skull, then dips into its neck and pries out an artery. This thing has thick green blood, and it rushes out of the thing's body in an instant.
<Brian> It collapses to the ground and doesn't move.
<Brian> You hear skittering from all across the room.
Bjorn looks up, quickly, at the roof.
<Ginrai> "Damn, knew it was too good to be true."
Ginrai brings up his staff and, once again, prepares to cast a spell
<Brian> About three more of the lizards drop down from the darkness and plop down land a few meters away. Their heads sway around and their tongues loll out like they're trying to taste for something.
Huitzil 's eyes go wide. "They are coming," he says in breathless shock, and this is no longer a reference to a book that was never written about the things happening right now.
<Ginrai> "Paul, I'd suggest you put away your knife and start playing some music. Hopefully it'll have some sort of effect on the battle."
<Bjorn> Are they between us and the exits?
<Brian> They are not immediately between you and the exit, but they're zeroing in on Bjorn and the lady specifically.
<Brian> We'll reset combat time here, and put everyone at phase 0.
<Brian> Everyone (except for the lizards) has a held action.
<Brian> It's worth noting that now that the dead lizard on the floor isn't moving, it's damn near invisible.
<Brian> Dex order.
<Brian> 18s: Huitzil.
Huitzil drops his knife and scrabbles for the lute without looking, his eyes are transfixed on the lizards. When he gets it into his hands, he spins it so that the neck is in his left hand and the strings across his right, and they begin to draw across the strings.
<Brian> What are you trying to do? Specifically, what kind of music are you going for?
<Huitzil> If my hands know what to do better than me, I won't stop them. If they don't, "Honky Tonk Women."
<Brian> Okay. Please make a roll (on 3d6).
<Huitzil> roll 3d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Huitzil ... : 3d6 --> [ 3d6=12 ]{12}
<Brian> Okay. The song comes out, a bit shaky at first.
<Brian> Please roll 8d6.
<Huitzil> roll 8d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Huitzil ... : 8d6 --> [ 8d6=36 ]{36}
<Brian> Huitzil's music shifts subtly, and the notes pouring out flood everyone with confidence.
<Brian> Next in Dex order is Bjorn.
<Bjorn> "Run!" Bjorn barks. "For the exit!" Rather than following his own advice, though, he moves to get between the lizards and the others, sword held low and wary (+4 to DCV).
<Brian> Okay.
<Brian> Next in dex order, the lady. She takes a few steps to one side, and readies a mace, but seems reluctant to leave Bjorn behind.
<Brian> Next in dex order, Ginrai.
Ginrai holds onto the staff with one hand and prepares to cast the 'Bolt of Force' spell
<Brian> Ginrai: Make a roll on 3d6.
<Ginrai> roll 3d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Ginrai ... : 3d6 --> [ 3d6=9 ]{9}
Brian calculates.
<Brian> What was your target, Ginrai?
<Ginrai> The closest lizard to Bjorn
<Brian> Okay.
<Brian> Please roll 3d6. Twice.
<Ginrai> roll 3d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Ginrai ... : 3d6 --> [ 3d6=12 ]{12}
<Ginrai> roll 3d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Ginrai ... : 3d6 --> [ 3d6=13 ]{13}
<Brian> Okay.
<Brian> Mystic energies gather themselves in your hand, and then streak out like a cloud of shimmering electrical sparks before they strike the lizard closest to Bjorn. It twitches, flails, smells a bit crispy, and then collapses.
<Brian> Phase 4, speed threes.
<Brian> Huitzil: You can take a half-move and continue playing, or you can stop and make a full move, or you can stop, and do something else entirely.
Huitzil 's music didn't do what he wanted it to do, but he thinks it's doing something. He keeps playing, but blends and twists the notes together into a more appropriate song -- I Can't Get No Satisfaction.
<Brian> Nothing visibly (or invisibly, that you're aware of) changes.
<Brian> Next, the lizards.
<Brian> The first live lizard runs up to the first dead lizard, and takes a big bite out of it.
<Brian> The second live lizard runs up to the second dead lizard, and takes a big bite out of IT.
<Brian> Sounds pretty nasty.
<Brian> A couple more 'plops' sound as more lizards drop, though further away.
<Brian> This is gonna get pretty messy soon.
<Brian> Phase 6, speed 2s.
<Brian> First up, Bjorn.
<Bjorn> "Run, you sons of bitches!" Bjorn growls. "Get to the exit!" Suiting actions to words, Bjorn backs up in the correct direction, not taking his eyes off the lizards, and not letting anyone get between him and them.
<Brian> Bjorn starts edging towards the far side of the room. The new lizards are a ways away, but closing in quickly.
<Brian> The lady goes next, and does exactly what Bjorn said -- books towards the exit.
<Brian> Next up: Ginrai.
<Ginrai> I'm behind Bjorn, right?
Ginrai does the same and backs towards the exit
<Brian> Okay. Phase 8, speed 3s. Huitzil: This is you.
Huitzil does as told, stepping and then skittering his way toward the far exit, as close to the wall as he can. He keeps playing as best he could, but his fingers stumble a few times as he flees.
<Brian> They do, but no one seems to notice. As you're all out of the direct line of advancement, the lizards ignore you, and plow towards the fallen pair.
<Brian> A feeding frenzy erupts full force as you make it to the archway.
<Brian> From this distance, though, the lizards are difficult to make out, blending into the stone walls very well. But they sound upset, all hissing, crunching, and other nasty noises.
<Brian> We'll end combat here, unless you want to go back in and fight some more.
<Bjorn> No thanks.
<Ginrai> Not really
<Brian> Alrighty, then.
You're now returned to the same corkscrewing hallway you came from, though the lady breathes a shaky sigh of relief that no one was harmed, and dims the light of her pendant a bit.
"Let's keep going," Bjorn says. "Most likely, whoever survives won't follows us, but I'd rather not rely on that."
Gesturing at the others to preced him this time, Bjorn takes the rear guard position, splitting his attention between front and rear, and listening intently.
Paul follows, clutching the neck of his instrument as tight as he can.
Ginrai positions himself on the Lady's right while geturing for Paul to stay on her left.
"I believe we should try to move as fast as possible through this area."
You hoof it, and keep on trucking.
Again, you lose track of time.
But, you don't encounter any more odd rooms, which is probably a good thing.
You don't encounter any more rooms at all, actually, which is kind of an odd thing.
Regardless, your path begins to rise, after a while, and it suggests that you may be drawing near an exit.
"If it was this easy," Bjorn says, in a quiet but skeptical voice, "then getting through wouldn't be legendary."
He moves the front of the group, but stops, peering ahead as if he could actually make anything out, and then shaking his head. Turning back, he whispers, "Slowly and carefully. Don't suppose anyone has a stick on them?"
The lady looks at Parthipan's staff, but says nothing.
"I do, Bjorn," Ginrai whispers back. "Though I'm wondering why you noticed it and didn't say anything," he asks the Lady.
"I've heard you keep your soul in it," she says dryly.
"That being the case," Bjorn says, dryly, "it's probably not the ideal thing to be using to feel out traps."
"What?!" Ginrai sputters to the rather unexpected reply from the Lady.
Before he can ask the Lady if she's joking Ginrai wisely shuts up and sighs. "I guess that's why you're a bit wary of me?"
"Your lore is your own path," she says, not really answering the question. "More to the point," she says, directing an inquiring look at Bjorn.
Bjorn shrugs. "I worry about traps, m'Lady. Tripwires, triggers hidden in the cobblestones, what have you. We can watch for anything living, but there's nothing to do but go slowly for the rest. Something to sweep ahead of us would be nice, but it seems we're lacking." Bjorn grunts. "Then we go slowly. Don't take a step without feeling your way through it. If a stone shifts, or if you feel resistance, stop, and warn the rest."
Bjorn looks around, to see if anyone has objections or suggestions.
"I don't know if those lizard things are smart enough to set traps... they did eat their own instead of going after us, which could have got them more food."
He pauses. "Unless there's something else down here with them."
"Quite possible. I really wish I had more time to look through my book and see if there was any spell to detect others in a surrounding area."
Bjorn grunts. "There almost certainly is," he says to Paul. "Those lizards were bad, but enough men, with spears... they'd be nothing. This place has a reputation for a reason. I'd rather be patient than dead.
"As for spells," Bjorn shrugs. "If you don't have spells, then wishing for them doesn't do anything. So. Any ideas, or shall we proceed?"
The lady nods. "This is your area of expertise," she says, gesturing you to lead the way.
Looking around at the other silent faces, Bjorn shrugs. "Well, then." Fumbling briefly at his belt, he unhooks his scabbard. Holding it by the mouth in his left hand, he says, "If you have anything solid, use it to check ahead of you as you walk. Otherwise, stay directly behind someone who does."
With a last look around, to make sure everyone understands, he starts off down the corridor, sliding his scabbard along the ground in front of him, carefully poking at each cobblestone before putting his weight on it. At the same time, he keeps his sword held in front of him, slowly swinging it (edge upwards) from side to side across his body. It's slow tedious going, but better, he thinks darkly, than dying.
It leaves him sufficient time to wonder just who and what his this-self was, that creeping through underground ruins is his "area of expertise."
Paul checks his stuff for anything similar he could use; besides the lute of course.
Paul: You got nothing.
Bjorn: You proceed. With grueling slowness.
You reach the top of a rise, and enter another largish room. This one's got spirals all over the floor -- cobblestones of black and white whirling into something in the center. And the last cobblestone you poked is either lose, or a trap.
This room's probably about forty meters, circular. One other exit, as usual. Without being asked, the lady brightens the light. The walls here are dark. Dark enough that you hope any pale lizards can't hide in it.
Bjorn gestures sharply with his sword hand for everyone to stop. "This stone is loose," he says, warningly. "Get back."
When everyone has retreated a good distance, he gingerly lifts the scabbard off the stone, keeping himself ready to jump in any direction.
You step back ... and thin, razor-wide curved discs of metal saw through the air, leaping between cracks in the cobble-stones to dice any unwary traveler who steps on the cobble the wrong way before vanishing beneath the floor once more.
Luckily, you are out of range, yourself.
Bjorn closes his eyes and exhales, carefully repressing his impulse to tremble. Inhaling again, he opens his eyes, and observes, "Well. That wasn't wasted effort."
Studying the layout of the room, for a second, Bjorn then looks down at the scabbard of his unfortunately short sword, and then grimaces. Turning back to the rest of the group, he says, "Master Parthipan, I think I need to borrow your staff."
"Eh?! Wait one moment here, Bjorn. You sure that it won't end up getting cut into pieces by the razors?"
Bjorn eyes the staff. "Fairly certain. It looks like a nice, hard wood. From experience, it wouldn't be easy to cut, and I don't plan to hold it in place for the blades to go through.
"On the other hand, those blades will go through me without a moment's pause, and my scabbard doesn't have enough reach to test the area around the entrance without putting myself at more risk than I care for."
He cocks an eyebrow. "If don't want me holding the staff, I'll understand -- but I don't see that we have anything that'll do the job even half so well."
Ginrai warily hands the staff to Bjorn. "Before you take this, can we compare the size of this with that of your scabbard to see what sort of advantage you'd have using my staff?"
Bjorn stares pointedly at his scabbard, no more than two feet long, and then at Parthipan's man-height staff, and then lifts his eyes to look at Parthipan.
"Ah... right. Use it carefully, Bjorn."
Taking the staff from Parthipan, Bjorn stands well back from the doorway and studies the precise pattern of the cobblestones near the entrance.
The cobbles are about seven cm across, pretty much square (though, they do bulge upwards in the center, as they're slightly rounded and radiate in an arc away from the center of this room. The cobbles all (pretty much) seem to be arrayed in circles, or maybe a spiral, from there. You're not close enough to be certain. Either way, there are six fairly tightly packed spirals, alternating between white and black between you and the center.
"Stay back from the entrance, and get yourself flat along the walls or the floor," Bjorn advises the others. Once he's sure they're going to follow his suggestion, he stands to one side of the entrance, as far back as he can manage, and carefully pushes at a cobblestone in the closest white spiral.
The cobblestone appears to be safe. At least, it doesn't spring any traps you're aware of, or feel loose.
Muttering under his breath, Bjorn edges closer to the entrance, and tries to see if he can reach the second white spiral with the staff.
At the wall, since the chamber is forty meters (or so) across, and has six equal sized spirals running to the outer edge, you would need to clear a gap of about twenty one meters. That's quite a reach.
Bjorn grunts. "Okay. The white spiral seems to be safe, but we can't bet on that. Follow me, and try to step on the exact same cobblestones."
Saying that, Bjorn tentatively starts following the white spiral. Tap the farthest white stone he can reach with the staff, then the one he's going to step onto to make sure, step forward, and then repeat. Ideally, the idea is to trigger any traps there might be as far away from him as possible; and then, to make sure he hasn't lost track, doublecheck the near ones.
It's slow going, but it is going. What you find is that there's a 'safe path' through the traps that doesn't actually quite match the curve of the spiral. Iff it did, it'd take you to the center. Instead, it curves across the room, an aisle about a meter and a half wide with no traps. The cobbles on either side of your aisle are suspect, but it carries you across the spirals rather than along them, to the far side.
From the middle of the path, you can see the the central stone is a block about two meters across, gray, and marked with something you can't make out from the 'safe' area you're tracing out.
And, as it turns out, the staff is resiliant enough to only get knocked around, not actually chopped in half. In fact, when you look at it, it's not even chipped or notched from the metal sheets that popped up and hit it.
Taking a pause for a second, Bjorn induldges in a stretch and some deep, relaxing breaths -- but without moving his feet. "Tiring," he observes. Squinting at the centre block, he asks, "Can anyone make out what that is?"
No one else is in a position to reach it, or see better than you (Ginrai actually does adjust his glasses to try and peer at it), but the result is the same.
"This room looks much like one of the chambers in the inner sanctum of the temple of Hamar," the lady reflects. "Perhaps it served a similar function long ago. The capstone is usually a repository for a sacred relic ... but it would appear that thieves, or perhaps even the original maintainers took this one away."
Bjorn grunts, thoughtfully. "Is it worth trying to get to the altar?" he asks, thoughtfully. "It might be possible to do, but it's probably foolish -- seems the most likely place to be trapped." He shrugs. "But then, I don't know what they were thinking when they built this place."
"I don't know," the lady says, frowning. "The colors are for the temple of Aestock, not Hamar. But they are companions against our foe." She seems uncertain. "It would be a risk. It is right there ... but at the same, we do need to make haste."
Bjorn grunts. "M'Lady, if there's a trap at that altar, then we might need to make rush if we go there." He grimaces. "Or there might be something there that will save us later on. I don't like guessing."
Ginrai sighs. "If the reward is good enough, it might be a good idea to check it out. M'lady, do you have any idea of what could be in there?"
She frowns. "It could be anything. Or nothing. I don't know. I leave that decision in your hands," she says, gesturing to indicate everyone in general.
"Would there be an altar or temple to Aestock down here? I doubt the lizards practice any kind of worship, and these traps don't seem like the kind of things you would surround a real altar with. I believe it's probably another kind of trap."
"The defenders of the Stormkeep might have put an altar in when they made this place," Bjorn grunts. "But if they expected the Dreadmarch to try and despoil it, they might have left it as," he gropes for a word, "bait."
He thinks for a minute more, and then shakes his head. "This was built to stop people passing through," he says. "I can't imagine anything would be left behind to help someone get through."
Snorting softly, he adds, "Even if we change our minds, only one of us should try to reach it. Before that, we need to reach the other exit."
Checking to make sure everyone else is ready, Bjorn resumes his careful, painstaking progress across the room.
After a few more minutes (the arc of safety continues as you expected it to) you reach the far end of the room.
Reaching the exit, Bjorn explores a little more, making sure that the mouth of the hallway is free of traps, before arching backwards, knuckling his back. "All right," he says. "Now, because I'm curious, gimme a few before we go on."
With that, he takes off his pack, handing it to Paul for safe-keeping, and returns back to the exit, and, without straying far from the door, tries to determine if there was another trap-free path -- one, perhaps, that might lead to the altar.
Well, from what you can see, a trap-free path is pretty much a dream, if you're looking for an aisle of safety as large as the last one. But, not every cobblestone is trapped. If you're careful, you might be able to pick your way through the traps to reach the center of the gauntlet. The shortest route would appear to be from the mid-point of your aisle of safety.
Uncertainly, Bjorn pauses, and then shakes his head. "Shouldn't take risks," he grumbles to himself, "but I'm not sure what's riskier."
Raising his voice, he tells the others, "Stay there!" Without waiting for a response, he starts out, going back to the mid point and making his way across the cobblestones to the center block.
Feeling around for which cobblestones are safe, and which aren't, is tedious work, and you're about four meters from where you want to be -- the center of the circle. Assuming it's not a huge trap, of course.
Your options are to either try and memorize each trap's location, and then walk, or, more simply, to identify a number of 'safe' cobbles, and play the most lethal round of hopscotch you've ever participated in.
This latter seems more feasible, given the number of cobbles (there are hundreds) and how quickly you're trying to accomplish this task.<Faceless> roll 3d6
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Faceless ... : 3d6 --> {5}You know, hopscotch is easy, come to think of it. Those pansy kids should find something more challenging to do with their time.
You're now standing on a circle of stone in the middle of the room. It's a bit dim, but the lady brightens the light of her pandant for you.
The circle is about two meters across, you'd guess, inscribed with runes. They all spell out a prayer to Aestock, as far as you can tell. You have to kind of turn your head at an angle to read them (unless you want to stand on the cobbles, which doesn't seem like a fantastic idea). The center of this circle is a stone ring, about twenty centimeters across. It's got two half-circle indentations in it, leaving a spot between the indentations that looks rather like a handle.
Bjorn crooks and cranes his head, trying to read the writing, and then squats to study the ring more carefully.
"...the wind that is life breathe ever through this world in the name of Aestock and his bretheren we serve..." you're not really sure where it begins, though. It's circular, after all.
The ring itself is unadorned, looking like a stone key or plug. It looks like it's separate from the other stone, and like you could move it.
Well, shit. Here's hoping the hopscotch is as easy the next time around.
With that "prayer," Bjorn grabs the handle and tries to move the ring.
It unscrews, like a big lid. After about three full rotations, it comes up, revealing a little cubby beneath it. And also about that same time, you hear a tremendous echoing grinding noise from all around you.
"Fuck," Bjorn pronounces, and continues on in that vein. The obscenity is just tension relief, though, as he quickly looks to see both what is in the cubby, and what is going on around him.
The cubby appears to have some very large clear crystal in it. Outside of where you are, the cobbles are all spinning (slowly) so that instead of six spirals, when it comes to a halt, there are six broad stripes (or wedges, really) radiating from the center. Well, that doesn't seem so bad....
Carefully rising to his feet again, Bjorn looks back at the others and shouts. "M'Lady, there's a crystal that was concealed here. Any ideas what it might be?"
She shakes her head, but calls back, "Best bring it with us. We can return it to their church ... it will do little good here."
"Sure thing, boss," Bjorn mutters under his breath. "I'll just defile this here holy altar in the middle of a goddamn buttload of nasty-ass traps, with no concern at all about getting my goddamn legs chewed off. Jesus Christ, I'm a moron."
Eyeing the rearranged cobblestones, Bjorn shakes his head and sighs. Can't map out the new path without moving from here. Dammit. Carefully, he squats down by the cubby again, and carefully examines it. Are there any holes in the walls or floor of the cubby? Is the crystal resting on anything? Is the bottom loose at all? Or is it simply too dark to tell?
It's too dark to tell. The angle of light doesn't help reveal much of anything at all.
Swearing softly to himself, a constant almost inaudible mantra of vulgarities, Bjorn reaches down with both hands to grab the crystal and lift it free.
It comes up. And a button or switch beneath it comes up, as well.
What this accomplishes, you don't know. There are no spears, darts, or massive rolling boulders careening towards you that you're aware of.
Bjorn freezes for a second, and then gets to his feet. Tucking the crystal under his left arm, and drawing his sword, he starts pushing at the cobblestones with his tip (Edge be damned, I can fix it later... if I have a whetstone. Fuck.), trying to find a trap-free path back to the exit.
And he listens, and watches, and keeps himself ready to run like hell.
None of the cobblestones you prod appear to trigger any kind of traps.
It might seem safe, but that doesn't give Bjorn any sort of false confidence. Continuing to tap the stones in front of him, he makes his way back to the exit.
This takes a while.
However, after all is said and done, you come to the conclusion that the switch was most likely a cut-off for the traps, and you reach the far side of the room in safety. Everyone is curious to look over the crystal you've retrieved, as well.
Back in the light, Bjorn sheathes his sword and studies the crystal in detail.
Paul cranes his neck forward to get a look.
"What is it? Is it... safe?"
It's a giant chunk of crystal. Looks glass clear, except for a few blemishes on the outside. It's shaped irregularly, kind of like it bloomed from something. It's about 14 cm across, and a good 20 high. No markings or runes on it, though it does flicker faintly, and a tiny spark is hoving in the center once it's out in the air near the rest of the party.
"Probably," Bjorn replies. "Hasn't killed me yet, at least." He pushes it into Paul's arms. "I haven't got room in my pack for it, so you get to carry it. Try not to drop it, all right?"
Picking up his pack, Bjorn prepares to continue the trek.
It glows a little brighter in Paul's hands.
"Whoah, hey, I'm not..."
Paul notices the glow.
"...was it that bright before?"
Turning, Bjorn looks again. "No," he says thoughtfully, "I don't think it was. Did you do something?"
"I don't... think so... is there something on my hands, maybe?"
Paul passes the stone back to Bjorn. "Here, see if it goes back."
Bjorn takes the crystal, and watches.
The light dims in Bjorn's hands.
"Well, it couldn't be anything that rubbed off." Paul looks at the Lady for a second, than asks "Here, why don't you hold it for a second?"
"One second," Bjorn says, and removes his right gauntlet before taking the crystal in both hands again.
Seems to glow a bit brighter when in contact with flesh, but not as brightly as it did in Paul's hands.
Bjorn grunts. "Okay." Handing the stone back to Paul, he says, "Unless you can think of any other pressing experiments, let's get going. This is not a good place to stop and think."
"I just want to see what happens when the Lady holds it, that's all." Paul holds out the object and looks at her expectantly.
She blinks. "No thank you," she says dryly. "While Aestock and Hamar are not enemies, I think it's best left handled by his own followers."
Paul shrugs. "Suit yourself, then." He then looks on his person for some garment he could remove and wrap the stone in.
Bjorn nods, acknowledging the point. "Let Master Parthipan handle it, first. Then we can get going."
Parthipan reluctantly takes hold of the crystal, and the entire thing practically floods with light in his hands. It's bright enough to rival the lady's pendant, now.
"Whoah! Whatever it is, you've got it."
Paul then sees if he has something to take off and wrap the stone in, both to protect it and to shroud the light from it.
You've got an extra pouch, actually. Bigger than this thing needs, but also big enough.
"You think we should stash this somewhere for safekeeping?"
Paul keeps staring at the brilliance of the stone. "We, uh, we might want to not have it be so bright."
Bjorn snorts rather indelicately. "Our problem so far has been lack of light, not the opposite. You can wrap it up, or Master Parthipan can carry it. Either will work, as far as I can see."
The discussion over, as far as Bjorn can see, he starts to head along the path, resuming his slow and painful tap-and-sweep combo with sword and scabbard.
"I don't mind carrying it if we need the light, though it could be a small problem holding onto this and my staff in the middle of a battle." Ginrai shrugs and continues walking with the others.
Ginrai carrying your extra (mysterious) lightsource, you proceed through the untrapped cobblestones. After a while they run out, and you get nothing but dirt floors again.
Taking a second to put his scabbard back on his belt, Bjorn resumes proceeding down the hall, walking slowly, sword held in front of him, watching for tripwires, holes, and the like.
And lizards.
You find none of what you're looking for. Which is probably for the best.
After a bit, you reach what you hope is the true exit to this dungeon ... and realistically, that's what this place is. Hey, you can now credit yourself with an honest-to-goodness dungeon crawl.
Either way, you're faced with some stairs leading up, and you can see light in the room ahead of you. Your passageway only occupies about one half of the width of the staircase -- there's probably another passage to the side of yours. (Your passageway would be on the right side, though, facing the stairs and, presumably, the exit.)
Bjorn stares at the stairs sourly. "Now, you can call me suspicious, if you want, but wait here for a second."
With that, he again takes out his scabbard, and begins the same trap-detection process on the staircase: tapping each step, looking for holes and wires, etc., working his way up to the top.
Your ruminations are interrupted by running footsteps.
Leap of Faith now moves on to On The Outside (http://pishoque.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=32593#32593).